The Tailgate Connect® Podcast — College Football, NFL & The Game Day Life

Most people bring a cooler and some chairs. Lee brings inflatable houses, giant LED TVs, custom games, and Super Bowl ticket giveaways. The founder of the Tailgate Party Committee spent years as a high school counselor before deciding the parking lot was calling — and he answered by building one of the most over-the-top tailgating operations in the country. Lee joins Luke to walk through how a cou...

He coaches first base in a floppy hat, short shorts, white Nikes, and a six-pack beer belt — while running a lit grill. Meet Coach Bart, the utility man of the Texas Tailgators, and the most authentically tailgate human being in professional sports. Andrew "Coach Bart" Bartman spent 12 years coaching college baseball, two years running the world's biggest baseball coaches convention...

Cornhole started as a backyard game people played at tailgates. Today it's on ESPN, it's paying six-figure salaries, and it's pushing for the Olympics. Athena Delgado, National Director of Player Engagement for the American Cornhole League, joins Luke to explain how that happened — and why cornhole and tailgating will be inseparable for generations to come. Luke and Athena have hist...

If you've ever wondered what it looks like when someone takes their love for a team to a completely different level — this is that episode. Kendrick, known as Official Ken, is the LSU superfan whose reaction videos have hit 1.2 million views in two days, earned shoutouts from Shaq, Ryan Clark, and Marcus Spear, and made Tiger Nation feel like the loudest community in college football. Luke an...

He started making cornhole boards in his garage at 16. Today his company runs more tailgate events than anyone else on Earth — 350 planned for the next year across 15+ NFL cities, 9 college markets, and every major soccer venue hosting World Cup matches in 2026. John Mikulec, founder of Gameday Hospitality, is the rare operator who's scaled a passion into a genuine industry force without losi...

She's the first female tailgating host to appear on the Tailgate Connect Podcast, and she's been running one of Louisville's most beloved tailgates for nearly 20 years. Rensha, co-host of Tailgaters U, joins Luke to talk about what it looks like when a tailgate becomes a full community — complete with bake-offs, dip-offs, bourbon tastings, Papa Murphy's pizza on-site, and a cha...

He's been tailgating for over 45 years, drives three hours from St. Louis to every Kansas City Chiefs home game, and holds what he calls "the Rod Rate" at the same hotel for 15 years straight. Some people call him the grandpa of tailgating. Rod, known as Tailgating With Rod, calls it a state of life. Rod joins Luke to talk 45 years of game day obsession — from his first Indy 500 in...

He had Bullet bourbon in his cup before the recording started, and it only got better from there. Stephen Garcia, former South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback and one of the most memorable players in the Steve Spurrier era, joins Luke for an unfiltered look at tailgating through the eyes of a player who lived it from the inside. Stephen talks about what game day felt like as a player vs as a fan, w...

He played defensive back at Texas Tech in the 1980s — including a game against Michael Irvin's Miami, where Irvin told him he was one of the toughest white kids he'd ever played against. Now Chris Evans is back in Lubbock running the Matador Mafia, a 13-year tailgating institution that has become one of the best game day experiences in the Big 12. Chris joins Luke to talk about why he tu...

Lobster tacos. A DJ. 50/50 raffles. Multiple TVs. And more passion for game day food than most chefs put into a restaurant service. Rick with SoFire Tailgating is not a casual tailgater — he's the guy who shows up at SoFi Stadium and turns the parking lot into an experience that makes other tailgates feel like an afterthought. Rick joins Luke to talk about how he fell in love with the LA Rams...

He launched his tailgating company in January 2020, picked up his first trailer on March 15th, and COVID shut everything down two days later. Most people would have quit. Wayne Verschuere spent those months setting up his tailgate rig on beaches, in parks, and in his housing community — inviting anyone who'd come — until the world reopened and Tailgate Pro Entertainment exploded. From 4 event...

There is literally a professor of tailgating. Dr. Andy Gillentine has spent 30 years at the University of South Carolina investigating the phenomenon of tailgating — what drives people to sit in a 105-degree parking lot in August, what the legal and economic implications are, and how universities can make game day safer and better. He turned all of it into the first honors class on tailgating ever...

In this episode of the Tailgate Connect podcast, host Luke Lorick welcomes Baylor tailgating hosts Ryan and Matt to discuss their passion for tailgating, the evolution of their tailgating experience, and the community they have built around it. They share insights on creating a welcoming atmosphere for fans, the importance of good food and drinks, and their experiences with rival fans. The convers...

The Big House holds 107,000 people. Ann Arbor becomes one of the largest cities in Michigan on game day. And Spot 9 Tailgate has been hosting in the shadow of it all since 2007 — named after a parking spot they refused to give up even when the lot reassigned them to spot 14. Joey Mortiere, owner of Spot 9 Tailgate, joins Luke to talk about growing up going to Michigan games as a kid, how the tailg...

He pitched QB54 on Shark Tank. He's in over 200 Dick's Sporting Goods stores. Michael Strahan has played it. And it took him eight years to become an overnight success — all while running the business out of his house in New Jersey with his family. Mike Silva, creator of QB54, joins Luke to tell the full story behind the game that turns two tailgate chairs into a full football experience...

It started in 1998 with Ricky Williams's Heisman run, a guy selling bootleg t-shirts in a parking lot, and two college kids who thought: we should make a tailgate to sell our own shirts. Twenty-five years later, Hornball Tailgaters is one of the most established tailgating institutions at the University of Texas — and Ryan Lepper has the stories to prove it. Ryan joins Luke to walk through th...

The number 409 means one thing at Penn State: it was Joe Paterno's win total, and it stands for success with honor. Andrew Goldberg built his tailgate around that idea in 2016 — and 409 Tailgate Club has been a Happy Valley institution ever since. Crab cakes. Pulled pork nachos. Bloody Mary mix. A fireball girl. And a Bloody Mary sauce company called GoldHen that started as a tailgate traditi...

Most people don't think of Utah when they think of tailgating. That's exactly the problem Ryan Lufkin is fixing — one spectacular tailgate at the base of the Wasatch Mountains at a time. The Utah Pig Bus has been one of the most distinctive tailgate setups in the Mountain West for years, with scratch food, a dedicated fan community, and one of the most underrated game day atmospheres in...

She's a former television news anchor, the mother of five kids who prefer Taco Bell over her cooking (her words), and one of the most practical voices in tailgate food strategy. Shanisty Ireland joins Luke to give both home gaters and stadium tailgaters the tips they actually need — including the most underrated advice in all of tailgate food: ask your guests to bring something. Shanisty cove...

Three million people are on the waitlist. The K-Club is the only way to guarantee your spot. And Brett Loftis is the 24-year-old broadcast entertainer who gets to be in the middle of it all — as the voice and energy of the Texas Tailgaters in Banana Ball's first year of having a full six-team league. Brett joins Luke to break down what the Texas Tailgaters are, what Banana Ball looks like to...

He started hosting tailgates because he wanted to throw a party in a parking lot. Three years later, The Experience with Buckeye Mobile Entertainment is one of the most distinctive tailgating setups near the Schottenstein Center — with a live DJ, axe throwing, a private restroom on the tailgate trailer, and 60-115 fans showing up every home game ready to go from eight in the morning. Maurice joins...

19 years ago, Craig Renfro and his wife sat down and brainstormed what they liked to do. The answers: drink beer, cook on a grill, watch sports. They searched for any media covering it and found nothing. So they started Tailgater Magazine — the only tailgating magazine that exists — out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and have been publishing it ever since. Craig joins Luke to talk about over a tho...

In 2022, Ben Chase loaded up a Dodge Grand Caravan named Betty White, quit his job, and set out to attend as many college football games as possible in a single season. He hit 77 games in 135 days, drove through all 48 continental US states, and took 70 kids to a game in Tampa after connecting with a USF athletic director on the road. Guinness wouldn't officially track it. He doesn't car...

It started at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Penn State was playing USC. Dan Donnelly had a tent set up, music going, grills running, and games happening — while a group of Penn State fans wandered past in what he calls "a nomadic state," 24-packs on their shoulders, looking for somewhere to belong. He invited them in. They had the best time. And on the drive home to Northern California, the...

Welcome to The Tailgate Connect® Podcast! At Tailgate Connect®, our passion is tailgating with the world and our mission is to share that passion with the world. With that, we're THRILLED to announce the launch of our new podcast, The Tailgate Connect® Podcast. We'll be coming to you weekly with interviews from legendary tailgating figures and our awesome hosts, maybe a story about tailg...